Denver: Jack Beckman Saturday notes

BECKMAN ALMOST TAKES THE POLE IN DENVER
MORRISON, Colo. (July 14, 2007) - Jack Beckman almost took the Funny Car
pole position away from Robert Hight in the final qualifying round for
the Mopar Mile-High Nationals after posting an identical run...

BECKMAN ALMOST TAKES THE POLE IN DENVER

MORRISON, Colo. (July 14, 2007) - Jack Beckman almost took the Funny Car
pole position away from Robert Hight in the final qualifying round for
the Mopar Mile-High Nationals after posting an identical run of 4.862
seconds. The tie-breaker was speed, and Beckman's 313.88 mph on that pass
was just a hair slower than Hight's 314.02 mph.

Hight set his fast lap on Friday evening, Beckman established his under
similar cool conditions today following a rain delay. The other runs for
the driver of the Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T included a
breakdown at the starting line in the opening round, when a supercharger
part failed, a 4.900/313.37 Friday evening, and a 6.544/145.31 earlier
today on a hot, slippery surface.

Beckman matched his previous season-best qualifying effort of last
weekend in Bristol, Tenn. "No. 2 two weeks in a row," said Beckman. "I
tell you, if you look at our qualifying, we've been stout lately. We went
to a top-half car recently and now we're a top-four car in qualifying.
Both of our stellar runs were basically in night-time conditions and we
struggled in the hot conditions, which is almost opposite for us. We have
an awesome hot-weather tune-up. But I'm so confident that we'll be right
back tomorrow (during eliminations).

"The interesting thing is, you couldn't write a better script for the
Countdown to the Championship points chase," said Beckman, who is in the
coveted yet tenuous No. 8 spot. "I don't wish any ill on any Funny Car
team or driver - I love and admire all of them – but, Cruz Pedregon
and Ashley Force, who were on either side of us in the points, did not
qualify today, TJ (Tommy Johnson Jr.) is breathing down our neck and we
have him first round. So, we really have a chance to control our own
destiny tomorrow and obviously the goal is to win the race. But, if we
start chipping away at the round wins, we might find ourselves off that
bubble position and in seventh, and maybe even higher."

As mentioned, Beckman faces Tommy Johnson Jr. in the opening round of
eliminations on Sunday.